Faith and the World

Hard numbers are often scant in questions of faith. But a new report from the Pew Research Centre, a self-described “fact tank” in Washington, DC, on the state of religious belief in 2010 provides some welcome light. It estimates that 5.8 billion adults and children—around 84% of the world population in 2010—have some kind of religious affiliation.

Of the 1.1 billion unaffiliated, many profess some belief in a higher power. Asia has by far the largest number of people who claim to have no religion; China’s official atheism explains much of that. But 44% of unaffiliated Chinese adults say they have worshiped at a graveside or tomb in the past year. And China has the world’s seventh-largest Christian population, estimated at 68m.